Tower Town

Taichung

A competition entry for the Taiwan Tower competition in Taichung.

A tall building is simply not enough in the endeavour for an emblematic skyscraper in the 21st century. The sensation seeking of a high solitaire object has been the predominant show-off for the last century where the height has been limited to a combination of building technique and money. With growing economies all over the world and leaps in technology; the record race has become more obscure than ever with record holdings that only will last a couple of years with today’s pace. The tall lone building has been done so many times before, it doesn’t matter if you tweak it, swirl it, punctuate it, clad it with new materials; it still will more or less be the same. If you go up the elevators of Empire State Building, Sears Towers, Pearl Tower or any other solitaire, it is pretty much the same experience.

To make new world wonders, new typologies must be found, making architecture and spatial experience once again the main key to success. With our proposed typology, we wanted to make a truly unique experience for anyone visiting, working in or living in the new tower. Our solution was to separate the building into over a hundred of sleek towers; this will make the complex more into a highly interactive and intimate city district than into one large building mass that has little to no interaction with its users. The narrow streetscape will offer stunning vertical views, both from a street level and in mid-air on the many footbridges that is connecting the many towers, both for structural support and for communication and observation purposes. The observation deck is not just from one high point, it is on many levels and in different towers to get a broad spectra of views of the surrounding city, the towers themselves, the mountainous landscape and even as far as the ocean.